Episode 124
Void Puppy Time * We begin in downtime in The Shaded Valley. Barkley casts Sending to Mysa'aor asking how he is doing but gets a response that just says "Yes." * Lucius goes to buy components for his teleportation circle. Olivia goes to buy the Buffoon's Pantaloons. Andrith cooks a nice vegetarian dinner for the party. Godfrey bothers everyone with his Robe of Eyes with some ill-considered encouragement on Vahlka's part. Vahlka is offended by Olivia's fashion choices when they are discussed. Barkley encourages Lucius to 'make good choices' and asks him to tell her what the mural depicting us defending Oasis is like. * Before his date Godfrey antagonizes/encourages Lucius about his trip to Oasis. Lucius goes to investigate the mural. We are in it, true to form, though Sirius takes up the most important/largest position in the mural. Shadow greets Lucius, dragging a gelatinous cube on a leash. They go to dinner and lucius fills him in about the events that transpired in the abyss. Including his deal with Dagon and his intent to break that bond with the Kraken's help. Shadow reacts to this with tentative acceptance and some degree of confusion. Lucius spends the night with Shadow then returns to the Shaded Valley around noon. * In the wizard's absence, Godfrey has procured a rocking chair, somehow, then bitches that it's not comfortable. Vahlka and Godfrey greet Lucius with their own equivalent of 'did you get laid?" to which he lies and says no, both of them nat 1 their insight check and are like 'oh well, sorry dude." Vahl continues being high as a kite and makes a pie and whipped cream sandwich and attempts to eat it but of course makes a mess. Godfrey rants about Rat Burgers for the hundredth time. Lucius describes what he saw in the Oasis mural to a mixed reception from the rest of party. * We discuss logistics a bit, then Vahlka goes to ask Deacon if he would like to come with them to the void but he doesn't want to. She half-heartedly tries to convince him, but doesn't press it and we leave him in the valley. He asks her to message him when she's out of the void. * We head buttward (that's a technical term), into the forest, and quickly find signs of a large colorful camp. We're greeted by Orion, who immediately runs to fetch Tenebrous upon spotting us. * Tenebrous greets us and reiterates what they know about Mysa'aor. They tell us that they encountered a shadow dragon named Camfaithas who informed them that Mysa'aor has killed Bane. The waygate they've unearthed here has not been used in some time, and was apparently a personal one Chronatus used to visit Allohine. * Tenebrous claims they want to investigate this mirror so they can learn more about the creature they serve. They are joined by three tiefling men; a bloodhunter named Mollymauk, a rogue/ranger named Lark, and a bard named Orion. * Barkley inquires how Tenebrous intends to open the gate - they assure us that we won't have a repeat incident of what happened in the underdark. They claim Penance can open it, and reluctantly informs us they would have to use blood magic to do so. * We come to a small hill with a fiend's mirror partially buried. Godfrey considers the mirror a moment then handles a shovel to Vahlka - who hands it right back. Both warlocks roll bad on athletics. Godfrey eventually gets fed up and summons an Earth Elemental to clear the dirt away. * Vahlka interrogates Orion a bit about why he's here and why he supports Tenebrous' goals. He claims they are his friend and that 'someone has to change things and give them a safe place.' but also when Vahlka points out that the valley is safe he complains that it is 'sleepy and quaint' * Vahlka says that she might be able to open the mirror herself, and that she'd rather avoid blood magic if they can. With Barkley and Lucius' help, she manages to make sense of Tenebrous' notes on the subject and opens the mirror with the divine sanction of the Raven Queen. * We walk through the mirror and find ourselves in the Void, on a platform inside the rib cage of some sort of massive sea monster. We attempt to identify it but have no luck doing so. Vahlka pries one of the teeth out of its skull and puts it in the bag of holding. * We continue onward, and reach a fork that leads to either a darkened ruined city, a forest, and a tunnel of mist. We ask Tenebrous which way they want to go and they say heading toward the city seems promising. * We encounter pockets of reverse gravity in the space between void platforms, which we bypass with flying. * We head toward the city and as we progress we encounter magical darkness. Vahlka casts Daylight so everyone can see. We see vague shapes in the darkness that hiss and flee the light. We spot a small, chicken-like creature with a lamprey-esqe mouth. Godfrey says "that's a void puppy." and we accept this as the gospel truth. * We begin a fight with THE BOYS (Sorrowsworn) - who swarm us. Barkley pops Beacon of Hope. Lucius fireballs a lot of the weaker enemies to smithereens. Everyone else does a bit of damage in their respective ways. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpn08PPumWE